Why Do Bad Things Happen?

Why do bad things happen to good people? If God is so good and supposedly loves us so much, why does He allow bad things to happen? Why did He allow me to get hurt in my childhood? Why do young children die in accidents or disease? Why do parents abuse their children? Why didn’t He heal when I prayed for Him to?

If you know me, then you know I believe in Jesus. And those are the toughest questions to answer.

But what I’ve found through my own “bad things” is that if God delivered us from every pain and every hurt before it happened, then there would be no point in having a relationship with Him. We wouldn’t need His comfort. We would have no need to talk to Him. We would have no reason to need a Savior or any reason to go deeper in our relationship with Him. It’s not out of a mean heart, but it’s actually out of love that God allows certain things to happen. He so desires a relationship with us that He’ll allow us to walk through tough times hoping that we will come to Him in the end. It can be very hard to understand in the midst of a bad situation.

Unfortunately, there’s an enemy out there that hates you and everything about you. He is out to kill, steal and destroy your life. His entire goal is to destroy you physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It doesn’t matter if you’re a satanist, he still hates you. He wants to take your thoughts and make you think a certain way about God.

What I do know is that God is love. He takes everything we’ve been through and ultimately makes something good out of it if we allow Him. His purpose was never death, disease, or sin. That entered the world through mankind in the Garden of Eden by temptation from Satan. God’s purpose for us is eternity with Him through His Son Jesus, and unfortunately the road to get there includes many bumps and pain. He gives us free will and with that can come poor decisions, by us or someone else, that can hurt us. We live in a fallen world where we’re unfortunately not exempt from sin, pain or death.

Instead of asking “why me?”, maybe we should ask “why not me?” What if what you’re going through, or what you went through, will ultimately help someone else? What if it was/is ONLY to help someone else out? Would it be worth it in the end?

God has been bringing me down a road of walking with other people that are going through what I went through or just need healing in certain areas, whether physical or emotional, and I’m now realizing that I have a lot more wisdom in areas of where I was hurt. I have anointing in areas where I didn’t. I understand and have empathy in situations I didn’t. Are you going through a hard time? Maybe you need healing, restoration, direction, or you can’t understand why a particular situation happened. There’s one question you need to answer.

If it never happens, will you still worship God?

That’s a question the Lord presented to my husband and I when we walked through our desert. We had to come to terms with who God is, and whatever we went through, we would still serve Him no matter what. That was NOT an easy thing for me to accept at first. If God never gives you a baby, if He never heals you or your loved one here on earth, if He never restores your marriage or family, if He never delivers you financially, if He never shows you on this side of heaven why something bad happened, is He still your God? Will you still worship Him? Or are you going to hold a grudge against Him and turn your back?

Or, maybe the entire point of you going through what you did is just so you would give your life to Him. So you would realize that you’re nothing without Him, and that your only hope is found in Him.

God will take everything you’ve been through, everything you’re going through, and use it if we allow Him. He’ll make a ministry out of it. He’ll bring someone in your life that will need to hear your story and how you got through it. People are watching you and how you are handling yourself through your situation. They’ll have questions, tough questions, for you which will probably include, “why would God allow this to happen?”

What we go through has the potential to bring us to a deeper level with God. Billy Graham didn’t become the man we knew by living a perfect, pain-free life. He went through things that we probably don’t even know. The choice is ultimately up to you on which path you’ll take, but just know that God has a purpose and a plan in everything and He wants a relationship with you. Whether that’s a new relationship or one that needs to be deeper, He wants YOU. Don’t give up. Don’t stop trusting Him. Keep going. Ask Him to show you Himself in your situation. Ask Him to show you His plan in what you went through. Ask Him to use your pain to help someone else.

If your ultimate goal is to go deeper with Christ, then take what you’ve been through and grow your relationship with Him. Forgive God – even though He doesn’t need to be forgiven. Forgive yourself. Forgive the person that hurt you. Allow the Lord to heal you. Don’t miss out on all God has for you because you’re mad at God. He’s a good God that cares about your pain and wants to use it and you for good. Ultimately, Jesus was, and will always, be the only “good” person to ever walk the face of the earth. And He volunteered for all the “bad things.” So don’t think He doesn’t know your pain. He took it and nailed it to the cross forever.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28